Tuesday, May 27, 2008
How Much is Too Much?
How much can a peer tutor learn? Leave information literacy with the librarians. Clark’s reason is true: “those who can access and work with information will have a significant advantage over those who cannot” (563). However, then she ties it to being a “primary determiner of life quality and economic independence,” to impacting “our democratic way of life and on our nation’s ability to compete internationally” and further to guaranteeing “the survival of democratic institutions” (564). While all of this seems logical about those who know how to access information, it doesn’t mean that the writing center should do it.
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2 comments:
I would have to disagree. I think literacy is a word that is not easily defined once and for all. It isn't static; it changes from situation to situation. Literacy might mean in one situation to be able to gather information and synthesize it. Literacy might mean in another situation to be able to write using a computer software. Literacy is multimodal. If writing centers are to help students be literate, that means being able to help students in a situation that calls for helping them to search for the information needed to make them a better writer.
I also agree with Clark's observations, illustrated in her quoting Schmersahl about "research as part of the recursive generative process of writing" (566). While I understand that librarians might be the experts in research sources available through their facilities, I also see the danger in compartmentalizing the writing process into linear fiefdoms, e.g. research must be done in the library, writing in the WC, teaching in the classroom. If the student is working with a WC tutor and needs help with research, I hope the tutor helps rather than telling the student to walk across the street to Bracken, where a whole new collaborative relationship must be established.
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